Survivor: Gabon - Earth's Last Eden

Posted by: Erik Reichenbach  •  September 23, 2008 @ 11:42am

Filed under: Recaps & Reviews

Hi, I'm Erik Reichenbach. If you're familiar with Survivor you know that I made the biggest blunder in Survivor history last season. I know what you're probably thinking because I've heard it at least twelve times every week for the past five months: "Erik, you're a moron! Why did you trust those women?"

There were worse things said to me about giving up immunity, there were nicer sentiments expressed in my defense, but the majority of people have a general opinion of, "What in the hell were you thinking?" I can understand where they're coming from. Things looked pretty wrapped up on my part. I had to:

1. Win Immunity two more times
2. Trust none of the women and let them eat eachother alive
3. Find enough food to keep yourself alive
4. And maybe take Natalie or Parvati to the end if they were still around.

Things looked pretty simple, at least to the person sitting on the couch. After watching the season edited, after actually living through it, there is no question there are massive differences in watching and living on the island. Go for three days in your day to day life without food, and trust me, you'll start doing some pretty dumb moves yourself.

That being said, I can't wait for Gabon. Host Jeff Probst claims, "You may see some of the dumbest idol play ever on this season." Can they possibly be dumber than me?

The idol twist, which offers those who are sent to Exile Island a chance at a clue for immunity or a temptation from home, could be interesting. On the one hand I know a great deal of fans think Exile is one of the best strategical twists of recent Survivor seasons, while there are a great deal of others who think Exile is a big waste of time. Hopefully the temptations offered (food, family, a car, a conjugal visit????) will live up to the hype, and prove fun for more than the first couple episodes.

One of the things we can already see in the previews, and assume from the big switch to HD -- the environment is going to be one of the biggest characters this season. Already in some previews we can see amazing shots of gorillas, snakes, surfing hippos, and a bit of night vision being utilized for nocturnal leopards. Think, Survivor meets the Discovery Channel's Planet Earth. It should be fantastic.

A two hour premier also has me excited. Hopefully this time is utilized well and gives us enough information to find a favorite castaway and develop the exposition for the adventure. Too many times the first castaway leaves and the casual audience is left wondering later in the series, "Who are you guys talking about?"

I'm not one to make bets, but from simply looking at the Survivors' stats I have a lot of faith in Jacquie and Danny for the win (ftw). There's no way of knowing how well any of the castaways will play until we see them in action, so I'll leave it at that.

Take it easy,
Erik Reichenbach
9-23-08

Tags: Survivor: Gabon, Survivor, Erik Reichenbach, Jeff Probst

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Original Comments Posted (1)

Ariana says...

Hey, it's Erik from Survivor! :-) Looking forward to hearing your insider's perspective on this upcoming season. Welcome aboard!

Sep 24, 2008 3:29pm

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